Councilman Ignizio decries cost of Wall Street protest

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - Staten Island City Councilman Vincent Ignizio is speaking out against the Occupy Wall Street protesters and the cost of the action to the city.

IGNIZIO

The South Shore Republican told Fox News "Your World" anchor Neil Cavuto that he's concerned about Staten Island cops being deployed in Manhattan to police the protest, which began Sept. 17. He said, "Quite frankly, (the city) just cannot afford it."

"The Bloomberg administration called it a dire fiscal financial situation," Ignizio said. "And now when you add a month-long protest of people camping out 24/7 with no end in sight, ultimately who will pay for it? You're going to pay for it. I'm going to pay for it. Our kids' schools will be cut back, and police overall will be cut back.

"And then where's the city better off there? I really think we need to have a dialogue, no matter where you are on the Wall Street protests, on where we go from here with regards to the financial concern."

In highlighting that the protest cannot go on around-the-clock, Ignizio pointed out that city parks close at dusk. In this case, the park is privately owned by Brookfield Management.

"But, in the end of the day, there really has to be some concern for the bottom line by Wall Street protesters and the city alike. Ultimately, to clean up the park and then have the false pretense of throwing people out I don't think is the right way to go either, but we need to engage the protesters and the people who are trying to organize them to say, listen, at some point, the rubber's got to meet the road. At what point does this protest end or take on a more manageable timeline?"

Asked if New York can expect to see similar demonstrations in the future, Ignizio bristled. "This cannot be the new normal," he said. "Ultimately, the city doesn't have the funds for it."